Customer Reviews

The Merchant of Menace (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 10)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This series keeps gettng better with each new book. The friendship between Jane and Shelly is fun and so real I feel like I am listening in on a private conversation.Keep them coming Ms. Churchill

Although it is the holiday season, Jane Jeffry feels more harried than merry. On Friday night, she is hosting a caroling party. On Saturday, she is giving a cookie exchange party for the nrighborhood. On top of all that, she must meet the mother of her lover for the first time. To make matters worse for Jane, a well-meaning neighbor informs Jane that she has invited the scandal mongering reporter, Lance "The Merchant of Menace" King to cover the event and the tabloid journalist accepts the offer.

Though she prefers he did not, Lance arrives at the caroling party. Broadcasting from Jane's home, he hints to his TV audience that on his next show he will reveal a scandal here in suburbia. Later that evening, Jane looks out her window and sees Lance's body impaled on the antler of a reindeer in her neighbor's yard. The police believe a homicide occurred, as there is evidence the man was pushed from a rooftop. Jane believes that one of her guests wanted to silence Lance before his next show. As she has done before with her friend Shelly, Jane begins to investigate the murder.

The ninth entry in the Jeffry mystery series is funny, witty, and an example of how well written dialog can turn a good story line a great novel. The repartee between Jane and Shelly is some of the best interplay since Lucy and Ethel. With her jocular THE MERCHANT OF MENACE, Jill Churchill has sold the idea that suburbia can be an exciting place.

Harriet Klausner

This is a fun book to read during the Christmas season (but would be just as enjoyable year-round.) The holidays are busy for suburban mom and part-time sleuth, Jane Jeffrey. She's hosting two neighborhood parties, back-to-back, and trying to get her house and family ready for Christmas. Of course, just like Jessica Fletcher, someone around her always turns up dead. This time is a muck-raking reporter who falls off her neighbors' roof. Added to the mix is her detective boyfriend's mother who's "temporarily" staying with her. Luckily she has her good friend Shelly to help out with keeping her sane and with her sleuthing. This one will keep you guessing and laughing until the final pages.

I do not know where to begin to start telling about this wonderful, awesome cozy mystery. Jane Jeffry, the main character, and her best friend/next-door neighbor, Shelley, really put a lot of depth and color into these fun, hilarious books. The atmosphere is cozy; Jane and Shelley are mothers; there is always good food and a cozy, homy, warm home.

In this particular book, it is getting close to Christmas. A news reporter is coming to town and manages to get 'invited' to Jane's house, but he is very unwelcome due to his trouble-making reputation. I will not tell you what happens next.

The eccentric new neighbors, the hillbilly Johnsons, put up gaudy and well-lit Christmas decorations in their yard, in addition to loud Christmas music. I will not tell you what ends up with them.

Meanwhile, Jane is getting ready for Christmas; entertaining neighbors, friends, and family with parties; and keeping her home cozy and loving for her kids.

I will not tell you more about this book. You have to read this fun, entertaining, well-written, lively book for yourself.

This whole series is fun, lively, and awesome. It is definitey one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I only have a few more books left in this series. (I read a few of them out of order.)

If someone loves cozy mysteries, and they have not yet read these books, they are really missing out. This is definitely one of the better cozy mystery series. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves cozies. Especially people who love the more 'domestic' series. But it's not so domestic that those who do not have children would not enjoy it. It is lively/fun/entertaining, so those who are not domestic would still enjoy it. But for those readers who are 'domestic', they can relate to Jane's love of her children and coziness of her home.

This series, and this book in particular, is so cozy and warm!!!

I have started at the beginning and read all of the Jane Jeffry books in order. This is one of my favorites! In addition to a "cozy" mystery, there are some very, very funny parts to the dialogue and various situations that make this book stand out. The introduction of Mel's mother added quite a bit of humor and was a nice touch in developing his character.

Quite an enjoyable read !

In this and other books in the series, Jane Jeffry seems to have an unusually high number of oddball neighbors. The series, at times, is like a situation comedy run amok. While contending with the usual household problems, this widowed mother of three teenagers (plus a large yellow dog and two cats) must deal with the Christmas crunch, neighborhood activities, an unwelcome mother-in-law, the visiting mother of her significant other, new neighbors who appear to be obnoxious rich white trash, and a sleazy investigative reporter who is inserting himself into the neighborhood activities.

When the sleazeball is skewered on the antlers of a plastic reindeer, fingers point in many directions. Who was he investigating, and where are his notes? Skeletons begin emerging from various closets. The "clue" that leads Jane to the killer is a bit of a stretch.

Jane Jeffry appears to lead a chaste life. The novels in the series are written for a general audience with some violence, little sex, and no bad language. There are some minor editing problems typical of publishers pushing books into print (whatever happened to proofreaders?).

This book was a wonderful thriller with all the fun of a comedy/murder combined. Anyone that likes both humor and mystery will love this and all the other Jane Jeffry books. I highly recommend each of them to read!

Another winner for Ms Churchill. Jane and Shelley and their complicated lives - who would imagine such goings on surrounding seemingly normal down to earth people. I'd like to move into this suburb and sit back and enjoy the comings and goings. Please keep up the good work. This is a quick and easy read that simply zips along. Read it and all the Jane Jeffrey stories. Way to go Kansas authors!

I have read all of Jill Churchill's books with "Jane Jeffry" and she does not disappoint me- ever.This mystery has the hectic christmas events we all are familiar with, some progress in her romance with Mel, her wonderful friend Shelly (aka Watson to her Holmes), and a mystery to keep you guessing. What more can you ask? If you enjoyed her earlier work you will definitely enjoy this latest caper of Jane Jeffry. Definitely worth five stars.

Jill Churchill wins again, with another suburban mystery. In Merchant of Menace, the mystery arises out of, and fits seamlessly into, Jane Jeffry's suburban milieu. Who did kill the sleazy tv expose reporter? And why? And what's up with the hillbillies who moved in next door and their wonderfully tacky Christmas decorations? The neighborhood events, the recurring characters, including some neighbors we've seen before, like the inimitable Susie, even Jane's potential mother-in-law, all ring hilariously true. I'd love to have seen more of Mel's mother, though. Seems like there should have been a denouement to the simmering conflict between them. Maybe we'll see her again some day? (Some book?)